Through the Years
by Spirit Marcher
Summary: This is a bunch of one shots about Delbert and Amelia going through their life together. Fluff and more. rating subject to change.
1. Autumn

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they belong to Disney. **_**Can a person own something if they're dead? **_**I guess you can if your name is Walt and your last name starts with a D and ends with an Isney. Mine doesn't, it would be too weird since I'm not a man (or dead).**

Chapter 1

A noiseless breeze graced the morning with its presence and carried with it the fragrance of the autumn forest and the wonderful aroma of the quiet little town for miles. The air from the trees was so clean one could almost smell the leaves changing colors. It was powerful enough to paint a picture of the awesome shades of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns mixed in with the last fragments of green, trying to make summer last as long as possible, before the beholder even had a chance to lay eyes on the magnificent scene. The slight aroma of cinnamon and sugar drifted past her nose from Caden's Bakery that was starting to prepare fresh bread for the, undoubtedly, hordes of people that would swarm the place when it opened. She couldn't blame them, though. Caden's had the most amazing cinnamon buns she had ever tasted. They were incredibly moist and had the perfect amount of cinnamon and icing.

Amelia had always loved the smells and colors that fall brought and never missed a chance to take in every sight. She stood on the balcony and leaned against the railing of the vacation house with her eyes closed so she could easily concentrate on the sounds coming from the square below. There wasn't too much noise from town life yet and the sound of leaves sliding across the street could be heard. Amelia thought it was strange how such a rough sound could be so soothing. Maybe she was just in a happy mood.

She was shaken out of her trance as she felt two belt loops, on either side of her jeans, tug backwards slightly and pull her against another body. If it's at all possible, her mood went up about three clicks and went from about a nine to a twelve on a scale of ten. He was barely touching her and he had her absolutely dizzy. He pulled her close and her form molded perfectly to his with his arms now around her waist and his head buried in her hair that was in the crook of her neck. Amelia took one of his hands in hers and the silently stood that way for several minutes enjoying the scene together. She looked back at her lover as his form became lightly heavier on her to see that he appeared to be falling back asleep.

"You're not falling asleep, are you, pet?"

"No. The smell of your hair is intoxicating. I think I'm passing out from overdose."

"Ten hours in bed not enough then?" she said eyeing him coyly. He turned his head and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"If my memory serves me correctly, for three of those hours, I wasn't asleep." He stated in a voice that was almost husky. Since when did Delbert have a husky voice? "Remember?" The single word came out just above a whisper and in a way that made her entire body tingle.

"Yes, I remember, love, I was there right along with you. You're the one that was keeping me up," she teased while reaching her arm back and rested her hand gently on the back of his neck.

"I was keeping you up; you're the one that started it. You kept me up because of that thing you always do to me."

"What thing," she stated innocently; well aware of what he was talking about.

"That thing you do. You know, with your fingers."

"Oh, you mean this thing." She proceeded to ghost her fingers of the back of his neck so lightly that a chill instantly ran through his entire body and all of the hairs on the back of his neck stood up despite the jacket he was wearing.

"Yes, that thing." She smiled at his lack of words and knew she had him under her control.

"I guess you like it so much you're speechless. I do love having power over you sometimes." She was more than shocked when he spun her around by her left side belt loop and then pinned her to the Venice style railing. One hand remained in her belt loop and the other rested on the rails behind her while his face was as close to hers as it could be without coming into contact.

"You're not the only one who has power. I know exactly how you work."

"Is that a fact?" his breathe on her face made it hard for Amelia to concentrate. He just smiled in response before lightly kissing her lips and then trailing his mouth down her neck lighter that any feather. Delbert brought his lips back up to just under her jaw and started doing something with his tongue that was so sensational, it should have been illegal. Amelia tried her hardest not to moan but found that it was impossible with what he was doing right now. Knowing that he had won he stopped and looked her in the eyes. "You're right, it was completely my fault. You had nothing to do with it," she mocked.

"Well, maybe a little. You're the incredible one though. A goddess of gods." It always amazed her that he didn't see exactly the kind person he was and was never giving himself enough credit because of it. He was much better about it now than he use to be but the insecurity was still there.

"Me, I was just trying to keep up with you. You gave me a run for my money." God, he loved this woman. She knew exactly what to say to him and even better, she means it whole heartedly every time. He kissed her again more fiercely this time to thank her for boosting his self-esteem. He broke the kiss about a life time later to speak.

"You know, I think ten hours wasn't enough sleep and it's chilly out here, the bed sounds really inviting right now, don't you think." Without a seconds pause Amelia was pulling him into the bedroom where they would remain the rest of the morning.

Autumn, Amelia decided has the most beautiful sunset of all of the seasons. It matches perfectly with the various colors that the trees bring with them for just a few short weeks. She also thought it was best enjoyed sitting in the lap of the one person you loved most in the Universe. She and Delbert had been sitting in a reclined patio chair on the balcony for about half an hour talking about the various things they had done that day, after they finally left the house for a late lunch, and what could they do tomorrow. As the sun was in its final moments of setting, they laid there in silence. Amelia lay on her back on top of Delbert with her head resting under his chin while his arms were clasped around her stomach. God, she loved the feel of his arms around her, it was like her security blanket, and it made her feel safe. Plus, the warmth of his body was great to for the cool night time air. They stayed like that until the stars were out and shining. Amelia looked up at Delbert to see that he looked to be observing the constellations. Only, she knew how concentrated he always became when observing the stars because space was his passion, it was both their passions. He looked like he was in a far away thought, though and whatever it was it was making him nervous.

"What are you thinking about love?" He didn't say anything at first and Amelia wondered if he had even heard her. When he finally spoke, it almost took her by surprise.

"A lot of things, most of them involve you. All of them actually." His answer was more cryptic than Amelia had expected and still left her confused.

"First, I love the fact that you're thinking about me," she stated with a small smile, "but, if your only thinking about me, how can you be thinking about a lot of things? I am only one person."

"I was thinking about different scenes that involve us, like the one we're in now."

"The time we've been together?" She wasn't quite sure if it had been a statement or a question.

"Some of them, Yes. Remember four months ago when the two of us and our siblings decided to stay over at my house. I let them all stay because of all of the snow and sleet that was coming down."

"Some of it, vaguely; the rest I only know from the stories that our sisters gleefully relayed to us the next day. I try not to think about them though. Cecily and Annabel made it sound like the other five of us put on quite a show."

"Well, I don't know about Annabel but my sister was probably making a lot of it up to horrify us. I was actually thinking about after they all left and it was just the two of us. You were lying on the couch looking slightly hung over and quite concentrated."

"_Are you alright, you look like your thinking about something really hard." She looked at him and then back to the ceiling. _

"_Can you remember anything from last night?"_

"_Some things, only up until your brother got lost trying to find his way to the bathroom at about eleven thirty."_

"_You remember more than me then. He did find his way to the bathroom, didn't he?"_

"_I think so. I hope he didn't go anywhere he shouldn't have." After a long moment of silence, Amelia spoke again._

"_Do you think what they said was true, about all of the things the rest of us did."_

"_Maybe, but it can't be undone now and a least the ones we would have had to worry about black mailing us did some of those stupid things too and more. Plus, they don't remember either." _

"_Yes, but… I've always had self control and acted with some responsibility so I don't end up regretting everything the next day, like I'm doing now." Once again silence followed her words. She looked up to see that he was looking away and a bit unhappy. "Love, what's wrong."_

"_Nothing." His tone didn't match the words that came out of his mouth and he still wasn't looking at her. She didn't want to press the issue or his anger but wanted to know and it was clearly something she had said because he just started acting like this. She ran over her words and all of the things they were said to have done. Then it hit her. She didn't realize it at first because it wasn't actually on her list of 'Oh My God, I Can't Believe I Did That,' just that she wished other people hadn't been there when it happened. She sat up and went to her knees next to him._

"_Delbert." He still wouldn't look at her. "That's not what I meant."_

"_Then what exactly does 'I regret that it happened' mean?" _

"_Okay, I regret that all of that other stuff happened…"_

"_You can't just take it back; you already said it and meant it too."_

"_What I regret about that is that I don't remember it. I regret that is was under the influence of alcohol and not us. I regret that there were a bunch of people downstairs when we did it. But, I don't regret that it happened." He looked at her and nodded that he believed her. _

"_I believe you and I agree, I wish I could remember. I least we weren't drunk enough to make it to the bedroom and lock the door."_

"_No, because then I would be regretting it. It wasn't like it was the first time though, the one you're suppose to remember the most."_

"_No, it was the second time, almost just as bad."_

"_I guess we're just going to have to make up for it then," she said as her arms wrapped around his neck._

"_Make up for it now?" he asked with a hopeful hint in his voice. _

"_If you want." He answered by lifting her up and carrying her up the stairs and to his bed._

"I think we've made up for it, don't you."

"Maybe." His statement made her raise her eye brow and look at him out of the corner of her eye. She then changed the subject back to what they were talking about.

"You said some of the things were things we had done. What are the other things you were thinking about?"

"What sort of things we could be doing in the future."

"Like what?"

"Well, more making up for the Christmas fiasco." That earned him a chuckle. "You, teaching me how to shoot a bow and arrow."

"I worry when your less than ten feet from a gun. No one in their right mind would be around you if you had a bow _or _an arrow, much less the two of them together." He glared at her.

"I think about the voyages you could get and that I could partake in, you saying yes, more moments like the ones right now, laughing good naturedly about the people we both really don't like…"

"Say yes to what?" she asked casually while nuzzled into his chest.

"Hmm?"

You said 'you saying yes,' what are you talking about?"

"This." She felt his hand slip deep into his pocket and then slide something onto her finger. She knew what it was because the box fell out of his suit case when they were unpacking four days ago. She put it back exactly where he had it hid so she wouldn't know she knew. Even though she'd know the whole time he was going to this her heart was still beating a mile a minute.

"I can't image what my life would be like if you were gone. Everything I see for my future involves you. I'm not the best with words but I would do anything for you, if you want me to." Her breathe was stuck in her throat and she couldn't take her eyes off the ring her had just placed on her finger. It was beautiful and looked even better on her finger than it did in the box. "Marry me." She kissed him with more passion that she ever did before.

"Yes." That was the last thing they said that night. They were ready for the future, no matter what was going to come their way.


	2. The Bump in Life's Twisted Road

**Disclaimer: Delbert and Amelia and future offspring belong to Disney**

**Chapter Two: The "Bump" in Life's Twisted Road.**

The windows to the bedroom were open and the cross draft of the spring air on her face felt amazingly cool against her flush face. The light blue sky had spermatic puffy white clouds floating like they didn't have a care in the world or have anywhere important to be. The outside air was so clean and the white cotton sheets were so cool and fresh it was lulling her to sleep. The noon sun sent the light in the room at just the right angle that even the dark colors seemed to light up. The dark oak wood seemed to glow and the deep red paint of the walls appeared to catch on fire. She closed her eyes and pretended she was in the middle of a grass field lying on a blanket with the one person she loved the most. It helped to calm her churning stomach. The sunshine, the coolness of the sheets and the wind, and cleanness of the air helped the blood rush back out of her face.

Throwing up had become a regular thing the last couple of weeks. This wasn't the first time this has happened to her though. Three times, in fact, she's had this issue. Usually there is a tremendous amount of stress involved. The first time she captained her ship, the first time she had been put in charge of a war fleet, right before her wedding. The wedding had been two months ago so she reasoned that this wasn't connected. It was strange that it had lasted so long, other times the throwing up had only lasted about three or four days. This time it happened too many times to count. Plus, there wasn't anything to be stressing over so it had to be for another reason. And she knew it was another reason because she was almost certain she knew what it was.

She wasn't sure after throwing up every morning for a week strait, or when she started having weird food cravings, or when she missed her period three weeks ago, or when she couldn't concentrate, or even after the first two pregnancy tests. After the third one though, she found it hard to deny all of the evidence. Still, she wanted more stable, medical proof. She hated doctors, but they were far more reliable than a piece of plastic. The vomiting had lasted longer today than usual so both her and her husband were still in their pajamas. She was in a pair of blue soccer shorts that she used as pajama bottoms because she liked the silky feel and had put on a black hoodie because it gave her a sense of security. Her husband, in black sweats, a white shirt and his maroon robe, had went down stairs to get the mail. She hadn't told him that she had gotten blood work done or event that there was a ninety-eight percent chance that he was going to become the father of her child. She looked over to the door when her name calling out to her had cut through her thoughts.

"Amelia, are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, love. I think my stomach has settled for now. Did we have any mail?"

"Yes, bills, mostly I think. Plus, a letter for you from your parents and a letter for me from the Astrophysics department and the University."

"What are the bills, first, before my parent's letter?"

"Um; water; electric; no phone, I paid that a week ago; and one medical bill. That last one has your name on it. Strange, you never went to the doctor's office, did you?"

Her heart started racing. The blood work. She didn't know what was more terrifying, seeing solid results or having to tell Delbert. "Yes, actually, I did, about a week ago. I went to a clinic to have blood work done. That's not a bill, it's the results."

"You went on your own free will?" he stated only half joking.

Amelia shot him a dirty look. "Yes, I did, because even I can't pass off throwing up for three weeks as just a virus that will pass."

"Well then, you should probably open it up and find out what the problem is." He handed her the letter.

Normally his care free manner about the situation would concern her because he's normally very serious when something might be wrong with her, but she pushed it aside because she was more focused on the letter and what it would most likely tell her. She opened it slowly and took out the paper. She silently read through the results and then had to reread them three more times for it to finally sink in. Amelia didn't know if it was his voice of the paper being pulled out of her hands that brought her out of her shocked state, but it did it just in time because she was suddenly queasy again. "Bloody hell, I'm going to be sick." Delbert watched her run to the bathroom before looking at the results of her blood test and read it word for word while pocketing something hidden in his nightstand.

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She had puked about three times before she felt Delbert enter the bathroom behind her. She didn't know what sort of reaction to expect from him but perfectly calm wasn't it. Yet, here he was, reacting just like that, calm. He had pulled up in a stool from the bedroom and sat down behind her, pulling her into his lap and then pulling her hair back with his hands. Again, he was acting strange and she would question him about it as soon as her stomach settled again. After about ten minutes she stopped throwing up and rinsed and brushed her teeth.

She leaned against the sink, shaking, and on the verge of crying. Then Delbert's left arm went around her waist and his right hand began to stroke her hair while resting his head on her shoulder. She stifled a sob before calming herself. "I guess we have something we need to talk about."

"Yep," he stated softly.

Panic, disarray, shock, stuttering in an attempt to speak, all things Amelia had expected him from him when he found out. She remembered a conversation once that involved the two of them and her father when he had visited while her mother was away taking care of her sick sister. The question had caught them off guard because they hadn't even thought about the subject.

"_So, any possibility I might become a grandfather?"_

_Amelia and Delbert gave each other looks of 'where did that come from?' and then shifted their glances back at William._

"_Dad, we're not even married yet."_

"_You will be in a month."_

"_But we're not now."_

"_Close enough."_

"_You're not going to drop this subject until you have an answer, are you?" she sighed._

"_Well, if you don't want to talk about, we won't"_

_Too late, Amelia thought. You already brought the elephant into the room. It was probably your plan to begin with. She glared at him and he gave her an innocent 'what' look right back. _

_Delbert, sensing the tension that was suddenly building in the atmosphere, spoke up. "To be honest we haven't actually talked about it yet."_

"_Oh, so you don't know yet. I hoped it would be a possibility?" he said with a hint of hope in his voice. "Out of all of my children and their spouses, I think you two are the only children who should have kids." _

"_Dad!"_

"_What? Your brothers are far too immature. I would be afraid for any child that came with twenty feet of them and I don't even want to think of what would happen if any of them were responsible for one. And Cecily, I love her but, she can be rather…violent when things don't go her way. Plus, kids just seem to have a knack for knowing how to rub her wrong."_

"_Well, they're a classic example of a spoiled rich kid."_

"_Exactly, and you're not." He turned to Delbert. "And you, my boy, are smart level headed and never flaunt your wealth. You, both of you do your jobs for the love of space, not to show off or for the money. If you can love your jobs and each other as much as you do, you can love a child easily, and that's really all they need."_

The conversation had ended at that until later when it was just the two of them. They had come to the conclusion that they weren't ready for kids, nor did either of them see themselves becoming parents. This is why she found the way Delbert was acting was far from normal. He was as calm as a breezeless ocean.

"I hadn't expected you to be so calm about this."

"What were you expecting?"

"More panic or less calmness anyway."

"And you've had time to worry and plan out my reaction with having life changing news thrown in your face, rushing to the bathroom to lose the rest of your breakfast, while trying your hardest not to have an emotional breakdown all in ten minutes? Impressive."

Uh oh. She hadn't realized her slip up until he worded it like that. Now she was going to have to explain to him that she's known for the better part of two weeks and didn't tell him until now. Actually, she hadn't told him, he read it for himself while she was bent over the toilet. She gave a defeated sigh and looked at him for the first time sense finding out the results. She was about to speak when he spoke up first.

"If you were expecting me to have some sort of surprise reaction then you should have done a better job of keeping it a secret."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"Aren't you always telling new cadets that the most important part of any secret mission to cover all of your tracks so the enemy doesn't catch you?" he stated while pulling something out from his robe pocket. It was the box to the third pregnancy test she took. He then flipped open the lid and carefully dumped the used test onto the counter so that the blue part could be seen. "You didn't do a good job of covering your tracks. Oh, and the box says that blue is positive. The other two were also blue."

Amelia was now the one that was shocked. She had meant to discard of them better but her mind wasn't functionally properly at the time. He had known the whole time, that's why he was calm.

"Why didn't you say something to me when you took this? Telling me about it would have saved you the trouble of hiding it."

She took a jagged breath still struggling with the tears that threaten to spill.

"I-I don't know."

"You don't know?" he looked at her and his eyes shown that he didn't believe her answer.

"I didn't want to say anything until I received the blood test results so I knew for sure."

"Why not say that you think you might be pregnant. You didn't have to go through that agonizing waiting process feeling alone, that's why I'm here."

Now she was crying. She could tell by the tone of his voice that she hadn't just made it worse for her but she had hurt him in the process by holding back on information that he had a right to here from her from the get go.

"I should have said something. I didn't because if I did then I wouldn't be able to deny it anymore." Her words came between sobs and labored breaths.

"Deny it for what reason? Are you upset that it happened. Does the idea of having kids upset you so much that you want to deny it?" In their time together Amelia had learned to read between the lines and she knew what he was thinking. What he was thinking was 'Is it such a terrible idea of having kids with me?'

"I can't believe you would even think that, and know what you're really thinking."

"Well, what other reason is there for you to deny it them?" he practically yelled.

"Because I'm terrified!"

Dumbfounded doesn't even begin to cover the look that went across his face. Everything he had though she considered the situation just had a major hammer smashed through it. He looked at her to continue because he didn't know what to make of it anymore.

"I have been through raids, invasions, and battles from both pirate vessels to full on war fleets. I have been damn near close to death and almost dead on many occasions and I have _never_ been more terrified in my entire life than I am right now." She moved away from his arms and went back into the bedroom. She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She stayed silent until she felt his presence next to her on the bed. His arms went around her waist and pulled her close.

"I'm an idiot and completely insensitive. Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it." Things became quiet again giving time for reasonable thoughts to be collected.

"I haven't the slightest idea what I'm so scared of. Well, there is a lot about this that I'm afraid but nothing that justifies my actions for not telling you when the thought first crossed my mind. When I first started seeing the signs it was all I could think about. And then it became completely obvious I simply couldn't think."

He pulled away from her before scooting back to lie in the middle of the bed inclined on two pillows. He sat up and motioned for her to sit on his lap and she gladly accepted wanting nothing more than to be close to him at the moment. Once she was in his lap they laid back together.

"Maybe it was a combination of all of the things that were scaring you on top of the unbalanced hormones. Tell me what exactly it is that you're afraid and maybe I can help ease the fear."

"First, I still want to know why you're so calm. I may have not been a complete surprise but that just means that your fears have had almost two weeks to grow."

"I think it's because I spent most of the time wondering why you were trying to hide it from me and the rest of the time trying to figure out if something was wrong. When I concluded that something wasn't wrong I…jumped to conclusions, which you've already discovered."

She accepted his answer with a small nod and entwining her fingers with his so that both of their hands were resting on her stomach.

"Do you want the small fears first or the big ones?"

"Let's work our way up."

"Okay. Giving birth doesn't sound like fun."

"I don't think it's supposed to be."

"It should be," she grumbled, "getting the baby in was fun, why does getting it out have to be so painful?"

"That sort of sounded like a joke. Talking about this is obviously doing some good. Besides, you've been shot, stabbed, practically sliced open, and even tortured once; how bad could giving child birth be comparatively."

"Bad, now that you've jinxed it."

"Sorry, what else is worrying you?"

"Both of our jobs require us to be in a number of different places, for varying amounts of time, on a schedule that constantly changes on a moment's notice. How in the bloody hell are we going to be able to work that around a baby?"

"Doesn't the Navy give something like a year off for maternity leave? Plus, I can always decline any future long distance trips that I'm asked to take and work from here later on. We have plenty of time to work this out."

She turned her head slightly so that she was nuzzling his neck and then ran her hand through his hair.

"Thanks."

"For what?

"For helping to ease some of my fears."

"Rationality would have won you over eventually; you're a quite level-headed."

"Eventually; but now is better."

They became quiet after that and just laid there enjoying each other's warmth. Finally Delbert spoke up.

"There's still something scaring you, care to share?"

"I don't know anything about children; I'm better at dealing with rough, bad mouthing sailors. I have never had any sort of interaction with kids. That and I'm not ready for something like this. I don't know if I can do this."

"Maybe not, but we can. We have to deal with it now. Part of its obvious, cloths, food, material items. Beyond that there is really only loving it. That sounds scary to me. I think once it's here though neither you nor I will be able to let go."

"What else sounds freighting to you?"

"Changing diapers, lack of sleep." It earned him a chuckle and even a smile from Amelia.

"You do love to sleep, waking you up is difficult."

"I think we'll be fine."

"Well, I still can't see myself with a kid."

"I can, now anyways."

"Yeah," she stated lazily, "what do you see?"

"I see us lying here in the bed exactly like we are now only your holding the baby in the crook of your left arm."

"A boy or a girl?" she mumbled sounding like she was going to fall asleep.

"A girl, but I would be just as happy if we had a boy. You had just been released from the hospital. The baby is sleeping and you can't take your eyes off of her."

She closed her eyes and could see the image he painted perfectly and for the first time she was truly calm about becoming a mother.

"Speaking of sleep, I would like to get some right now, if you feel better about this, that is."

"I feel better, and yes sleep sounds wonderful, as long as I don't have to move."

"I wouldn't want you to."

After a few minutes, Delbert chucked to himself but it didn't do unnoticed by his sleeping companion."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"What if you're pregnant with twins?"

"That isn't funny!"

**Hope you liked this chapter. I like feedback so RXR PLEASE. She's in for a surprise when she finds out it's actually quadruplets. This was a long chapter for me.**


	3. Cotton Balls

**Disclaimer: I own the story plot. The rest if it belongs to Disney.**

**I've been reading a lot of Buffy fanfics and some of those people who write them write a lot. One of the stories I followed had a word count of 300,000 + words and the writer posted almost every day. Where do those people find the time to write all of that?**

**Speaking of time, I haven't had that much lately being new to college. That and I'm a lazy procrastinator, but I'd rather blame somebody else, like college. **_**Hear that higher education, your stealing my free time.**_

**Anyway, here's the third chapter of my story that is all fluff and zero plot line, like Napoleon Dynamite, only it doesn't suck. Please, enjoy, and review. It only takes a minute. **

Chapter Three: Cotton Balls

Falling Falling, Falling. Gliding towards the ground out of sight. White and fluffy like those things that his mommy puts in his ears. He still can't figure out why she does that. All that he knows is that it tickles and he likes it. His sisters all cry when his mommy does it to them but he can never figure out why. He always wondered where those things came from because she would always use them and, just when he thought she used them all, more appeared. They must collect them when they come down out of the sky and keep them for the rest of the year until the next time they come down. He lays there mesmerized as they come into view at the top of the window and disappear at the bottom. He wonders if it's like lying on his favorite blanket or having lots of bugs on the ground crawling everywhere. If he were the one who fell out of the sky and then giant people picked him up and stuck him in someone's ear he would not be happy. The first thing he would do was crawl away and hide like most bugs do. Maybe that's why his sisters don't like it because the white fluffy things are bugs.

All of the fluffy white things falling from the sky and all of the wondering he's doing is making him sleepy. He does his best to stay awake because he wants to watch out the window some more, but, slowly, against his will though, his eyes flutter open and closed until everything becomes dark and he falls asleep with his thumb still in his mouth.

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The snow that was coming down was unbelievably gigantic. Each flake was the size of a cotton ball. They fell down and landed gently upon the ground. The windows in the living room were cracked only about an inch or two but the air was clear and so clean that the whole first floor felt aired out. She'd give anything to take a walk in it like the first time her and her love had two years ago. She remembers that night vividly because it was also the first time her and her love had become more "acquainted" with one another. The snow had always been a magical thing to her. Now it was even more special because she could share it with her children. They had been born in December of last year so this wasn't their first snow, but last year they were newborns and far too little to take them out in it. Even now, the most she was going to let them be out in it was for no more than a couple of minutes. She was still going to love seeing their smiles and looks of wonder when she finally takes them out into it for the first time.

Speaking of children, she should probably check on them. Delbert had put them down for the night more than an hour ago. As she approached the children's bedroom she pushed the door open quietly so she did not wake the sleeping babies. Getting sleep was almost impossible, especially, the first few months they had been born. It was four times worse because there were four children. Every now and then she would recall the joke her husband made just after the fiasco with the blood test and the secret keeping. She was scared of having one kid and he made a joke about it being twins. It was far from funny at the time and even less funny when they found out it was double that and it wasn't a joke. She chuckled at it now though. As scary as it was in all of those months before, she couldn't believe how easy it came to her. She loves them with all her heart and so does Delbert. They are her world.

Amelia entered the room to see that all three of her daughters were asleep. Her second oldest and her only son was still awake but she could tell he was fighting sleep. She watched him curiously because normally when he was awake he never stopped talking to himself. That was one good point to having multiples; they would mumble at each other and get attention that way instead of constantly wanting to held by an adult. It might have been just baby gibberish but she could swear they were coherent thoughts in his mind. But now he was silent. He didn't even glance her direction when she entered the room. When she looked in the general direction her son was looking her eyes fell on the window he was facing and the snow that could be seen coming down out of it. She smiled at the sight because the transfixed look on his face was utterly adorable, like he was trying to find the answer to something. She can't believe the uncanny resemblance to the look Delbert gets when he's trying to solve a complex physics problem.

She leaned over his crib and simply watches him. They had all been in her life for eleven months now and it was still hard to believe that she and Delbert had created these beautiful children. She was completely different than she use to be. Amelia was so much more patient and nurturing. Nurturing is the last word that she would ever have described herself as. But she loved being a mother and she loved her children and husband.

Speaking of husband, he had just walked into the room, specifically, straight into the door frame. She heard him curse under his breath and then proceed into the room. When he finally came up behind her he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder. She turned around and gave him a raised eye brow.

"What?"

"I know your eye sight isn't that bad, especially since you have your glasses on. Plus, the door is fairly larger than you. Only you would run into it."

"Hey, many people run into doors."

"Only you would be clumsy enough to do it in the vicinity of four sleeping babies. Either that or you really want to be up all night."

"No, no. Uh...Not really. I'm good, thanks. Only three of them are asleep anyway."

"It won't be long and he'll be out like a light. He can barely keep his eyes open now."

"Has he been awake all this time? I didn't hear him on the baby monitor."

"I think the snow fall has him hypnotized. I don't even think he knows we're here. He has the exact same look on his face that you get when you're working. You don't notice people either," she chuckled.

All he could do was laugh lightly into the side of Amelia's neck. They stood there for several minutes watching their son who had finally drifted off to sleep.

"He's so adorable when he falls asleep with his thumb in his mouth like that," Delbert quietly whispered to Amelia.

"His is quite handsome. He must get his good looks from me."

"No, I'm the handsome one," he teased

"Then what am I?"

"Beautiful, gorgeous, hot, and a whole list of things I won't mention because there are children in the room."

"You're terrible."

"What?" he gasped playfully, "You said I was wonderful last ni…" He didn't get finish the sentence as he was elbowed rather hard in the stomach.

"What was that for?"

"Like you said, there are children in the room." She smiled sweetly at him as if she had done nothing.

"I'm going to miss this," she said sadly.

"Miss what?"

"Standing here watching them, holding them every day."

"What do you mean."

"Well, the Navy only gives maternity leave until a year after giving birth. They turn one in three and a half weeks. The Navy will probably have orders for me before December is up."

"I had completely forgotten."

"Two more years and then I'm allowed to semi-retire because of all of the metals I've earned. I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunity."

"You're seriously considering giving up being a captain. You love being a captain, Amelia, and you worked incredibly hard to become one," he exclaimed.

"No, I would never give up being a captain because, yes, your right, I did work incredibly hard to become one. I simply plan on leaving the military. _The Legacy_ is mine and I had already planned on free lancing like my father did with her when he left the Navy. I accept the missions I want so I hold my own hours; it's just as respectable as being a navy captain, I no longer have to follow orders, and the pay in far better. It's also far less dangerous but sometimes I think I enjoy the danger too much so that's not really an upside in my opinion me."

"Semi-retirement, does that mean if they're desperate they could call you back?"

"Yes, but there are only certain and very strict reasons in which they have the ability to do that."

He considered this bit of information which he had completely forgotten about. He knew they were going to have to talk about, and soon. He decided to let the topic go for the night, however.

"We can talk about it tomorrow. I just want to spend the rest of the evening in your company."

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, stroke him affectionately.

"I love you."

It was said barely above a whisper, but she meant it from the deepest parts of her soul. It was times like these that made him wonder what he had done to deserve such a beautiful creature.

"I love you too, more than anything."

She smiled and pulled her hand away from him to reach down and caress Derek's cheek. When she finally pulled away from him Delbert kissed the side of her neck, trailing the kisses up to her jaw line causing Amelia to moan softly.

"I know you were worried about having kids before they actually came, but you're so good at it. When we met the only way I knew you was as The Captain and later I finally had the chance to see the real you. This is different because I watched this part of you develop. I have to say, the whole new "mom" façade is really sexy."

She turned and quirked an eyebrow at him

"Sexy, huh? Why don't we spend the rest of the evening together in our room, hmm?"

"And, uh, what do you want to spend the evening there for, we're not tired yet," he said coolly, playing along.

"What better place to show me just how sexy you think I am than a room with a view and a big, comfortable bed."

"I can't think of any."

With that he led her out of the door and back to their bedroom where the spend the rest of the night tangled under the sheets.


	4. A Summer's Love

**Disclaimer: I own the story plot. The rest if it belongs to Disney.**

**I haven't done much of anything this summer like I said I was. I know there are a lot of people who have been reading this story so I decided to work on it this time.**

_**Rot **_**is German for red and**_** Tönern **_**is German for clay but only when clay is being used as an adj. when it's a noun the word for clay is **_**Lehm.**_

Chapter Four: A Summer's Love

The air was hot and dry and a mild breeze blew through the canyons kicking up a red dust that covered the ground from the lack of rain. The sun was just beginning to set so the temperature had finally come down something bearable. The last rays of light cast beautiful yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, and dark blues in the sky which was absolutely breathe taking over the red clay of the _Rot Tönern _Canyon. It looked like something out of a painting. Tonight was the perfect night for a bar-b-q and the perfect night, Jim thought, to tell everyone the good news. Everyone was at the Benbow for simply to get together so he thought he might as well take advantage of the situation.

Jim was outside on the back lawn setting the table and putting up games while his mother fixed the bar-b-q and his girlfriend Elizabeth prepared the side dishes. They had just finished putting all of the stuff on the table when they heard a knock at the door and four pairs of small feet come running across the wooden floors of the Inn. The back door flung open and the quad came running through strait at Sarah.

"Aunt Sarah!"

"Did you miss us?" Sarah had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. She had just seen them this morning.

"Of course, I always you, you're my best costumes."

"I'm your best of all," said Derek with a most certain conviction that only a five year old his age could have.

"Only 'cause you eat enough for, like, a bazillion people," quipped Alexis.

"Mom says that eating all of your food helps you grow," he stated trying to defend himself.

"Then maybe you should eat more," Angelina cut in, " 'cause you're the shortest."

Sarah couldn't help but think that their arguing was absolutely adorable but she had to step in and stop it because someone was going to get their feelings hurt.

"Alright now, leave your brother alone."

"Okay," they chimed as one.

"I eat lots of your food to Aunt Sarah," Abby, the last of the twins finally spoke. "You have really good food. It's lots better than Dad's food." She made a show of sticking her tongue out. The statement made Sarah laugh because she knew only how true that was.

They ran off towards Jim and Liz as Delbert and Amelia came through the door. The each had dessert in one hand and a baby in the other desperately trying to get the dessert but it was just out of their chubby arms reach. Sarah ran over to help lighten the load. She was tempted to take the babies but took the dessert instead because it was time to eat.

"Hi Sarah."

"Hello Sarah."

"Hello you two, you're just in time."

Amelia readjusted Darren in her arms now that she had one free.

"Darren, Dylan, can you tell Sarah hello?" Darren made a series of gibberish sounds while Dylan just decided to wave at her and then hide his face in Delbert's neck.

"Go ahead and take a seat; the food is ready."

"Come on you four, time to eat," Amelia called out. Sarah looked up to see Jim horse playing with Derek.

"Come on you guys you can play after dinner." Jim scooped Derek up.

"But mom!" they said at the same time. This earned a laugh from everyone.

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After dinner was over everyone did their part to help clean up and then just relaxed, chatted and played games. The adults sat around the table making small talk, asking each other what they had been doing on a day to day basis. The quads begged Jim to show them how to play horse shoes.

"All right the most important thing you have to remember is that the closer you get the horse shoe to the peg the better. The best you can do is to get the horse shoe around the peg."

"How do you throw it," Alexis and Abby asked at the same time. Jim thought it was uncanny how often two or more of them would often say the same thing at the same time.

"You guys need to stay out of each other's heads or you might get stuck there."

"That can't happen silly," laughed Alexis. "Can it?"

"No. anyway, to throw it you grip the back of it and then swing your arm back and forth until you think you're swinging it just right and then you release."

"Let me try."

"Alright. Now, remember, release when you think you have it just right."

"Okay." She swung her arm back and forth to get a feel and then she let go just like Jim had told her. Only she let go as her arm was swinging back sending the horse shoe slamming into the bar-b-q pit. The noise was so loud that everyone at the table stopped talking.

"Oops."

"It's okay, just remember to let go forward next time."

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The rest of the adults went back to their conversation about how well the Inn was doing.

"B.E.N. may be an earful most of the time but I am more than happy to have his help."

"Where is B.E.N. Sarah?" Delbert asked.

"There was some sort of robot convention this weekend on the business end of the space port this weekend. He didn't want miss this but I told him we get together plenty and that it was an opportunity he shouldn't miss."

Liz looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You wanted him to leave," she said slyly.

"That would be terrible. Maybe a little."

Amelia decided to bring up a new subject.

"How way the voyage you've just came back from."

"It was good and smooth until about half way back."

"What happened?"

"Every mechanical failure you can think of. There were so many but the worst was when the solar sails just stopped absorbing power. The Captain is having an investigation launched because there is no way that many solar sails stop working at the exact same time."

"I've never heard of that happening. Someone must have tampered with something."

She was about to continue when Jim came back to the table leaving the quads to play their game. He picked up Darren from Delbert and sat down with him.

"Want some pie." The wiggling thirteen month old answered by making slurping noises and blowing raspberries.

"You could just say yes. You don't have to coat me in slobber."

Delbert watched Jim and couldn't help but to think of what a great father he would be despite having such a terrible one himself. But then, he was nothing like his father. Jim was great with kids and he had a really be heart. No, there was none of his father in him other than sailing. Everything that made Jim an exceptional person was his mother through and through. He wasn't going to voice his thoughts on the subject but he didn't have to because Amelia did it for him.

"You should think about having kids in the future James, your excellent with them."

The comment had thrown him a little because the thought of kids scared him. He worried that he would be his dad. But at the same time, it comforted him because Amelia only ever called him James when she was serious so he knew she must really mean it.

"You think?"

"I know so."

He ran his fingers through the baby's hair with a look of contemplation set on his face. When Liz's hand found his other hand under the table he made up his mind.

"Well, then I have something to tell everyone." He thought it would be difficult to tell everyone but right there it that moment he was so sure that it was right, it was the easiest thing.

"Liz and I are engaged."

After a couple of seconds of shocked silents passed they were bombarded by congratulations and all sorts of questions.

"Hmm, my only son's getting married." She threw her arms around him for a big hug. "You're all grown up."

"Come on mom, stop. No, no. Please don't cry."

"Oh Jim, I can't help it." As she said it she hugged him tighter.

"Mom, need to breathe mom."

The quads noticed the commotion and went to see want was going on.

"What's goin' on over here?"

"Jim and Liz are getting married," father told them.

"Really?"

"Can I be the flower girl?" all three girls asked at the same time. Alexis, whose eyes grew really big at the thought of what Jim had said earlier, threw her hands up to her head.

"Aaaahhh, stay out of my head you guys."

"You can all be flower girls."

The rest of the night was spent asking more questions about the engagement. It also brought up old memories of the past, how it hadn't seem that long ago since the journey to treasure planet or since he stared the academy or since he was a little boy reading bed time stories when he should have been asleep.

Later that night, after Amelia tucked the kids into bed, Delbert realized something that broke his heart a little.

"You know, life seems to happen slowly when you think about it on a day to day basis, but when you look back or think about the long run it's like everything's happening instantly. One day they're going to grow up and be the ones getting married and it's going to happen faster than we think. I know; I've watched Jim grow up."

"Don't say that, it's upsetting. But you're right."

She crawled in bed next to her husband and he put his arm around her waist as she curled up into his side.

"Then I guess we'll just have to make the most of it won't we."

"Yeah, we will," he said before they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep wondering what the future had in store.


End file.
